One Thing About His Character That LeVar Burton Wishes ‘Star Trek’ Had Explored: ‘His Sexuality’

One Thing About His Character That LeVar Burton Wishes 'Star Trek' Had Explored: 'His Sexuality'

I thought we’d recently posted a similar statement from another black actor who worked in a past TV series, but I can’t remember who that actor or what the show was.

Or maybe I’m just imagining things.

Anyway… the subject quote came from an interview LeVar Burton did with io9, posted earlier today, leading up to the Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation later this month.

And when the interviewer points out that Geordi La Forge (the character Burton played) did have a couple of romances, Burton quickly replied:

Yeah, one [romance] was with an entity that was actually a monster. And the other was with a holographic representation of the woman who designed the Enterprise engines. Neither of which I would necessarily call a healthy relationship. I just wish [the writers] had allowed that part of Geordi to evolve… Because there were a couple of one-line gags that were present in the character — the first one being, “The blind guy flies the ship.” And we solved that by giving Geordi a specific area of expertise from which to contribute, when we moved him to engineering. And the other stereotype was that of the nerdy guy, the engineer who is inept around women. And we just never had the opportunity — we ran out of time, I guess — we never had the opportunity to evolve beyond that. And I believe with the core of my being that Star Trek is better than that. Star Trek is better than stereotypes.

Indeed. I think many of you who are fans of the entire family of Star Trek series and films feel the same way – its vision of a better future for humanity that’s diverse, and in which humans are expected to progress beyond prejudice, aggression, and self-interest.

But, no matter now. It’s all in the past. Can’t change anything.

I think Data’s sexuality should’ve been explored more too :)

The beloved series will be transferred to high-definition for the first time ever and released on Blu-ray on July 24. All 178 episodes from seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release on Blu-ray and eventual runs on television and digital platforms both domestically and internationally.

Currently, you’ll find the entire 178 episodes from 7 seasons streaming on Netflix, but in sub-par, though watchable quality. It’s just not quite the same experience when compared to true high-definition 1080p. So yes, I’ll likely be purchasing this when it’s released.

Of note, in addition to Burton, Whoopi Goldberg and Michael Dorn were series regulars, and even, on occasion, the central focus in episodes written around their characters specifically; Burton and Dorn were there through it all, from beginning to end; Whoopi came in a year after its debut, and left a year before its finale.